The United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is launching the #DanceforChange global dance competition, urging youth to record a 15-second dance video in support of rural youth opportunities in some of the world's poorest countries.

A virtual dance petition launched this week on TikTok’s short mobile video platform calls on world leaders to invest more in sustainable agriculture and youth as a means of tackling global poverty and hunger.

Today in the world there are 1.2 billion young people (aged 15 to 24 years). More than 80 percent live in developing countries, and their numbers are growing particularly fast in low-income African countries, where rural poverty remains the most difficult to eradicate.

In anticipation of the promotion on TikTok, about 5,000 people from all over the world created unique video dances and memes in support of this goal. The largest audience engagement was in Canada, India, Germany, the UK and the United States.

“We are dancing to attract the attention of the whole world and share ideas with youth everywhere: our generation can put an end to global hunger, but only if our leaders invest more in agriculture and the next generation of young farmers,” said one of the organizers of the project, a lawyer IFAD Rural Youth Choreographer Sherry Silver.

“More investment in youth and agriculture means more food, more jobs, and more freedom for all of us,” said project manager Eazi, the second project organizer, in a recorded message on TikTok, encouraging users to participate in this task.